


Soft Smiles and Tired Shadows

by Fangirl_on_fire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gay Keith (Voltron), Insomniac Keith, M/M, Makeouts, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Texan Keith (Voltron), very minor shallura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 06:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13584267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_on_fire/pseuds/Fangirl_on_fire
Summary: In a world when people meet their soulmate in their dreams, Lance hasn't met his yet. But he has a time zone, which is supposed to indicate that he has a soulmate.So, why hasn't he met them yet?It seems like the question will never be answered, until he meets a hot boy with tired shadows under his eyes.Then, everything begins to fall into place.





	1. Chapter 1

It was Lance’s 18th birthday, and he had never been so excited.

Though he was supposed to be doing a science project that the professor probably forgot about anyway, he couldn’t focus on it. He stood up and walked over to the window, peering out of it, and then sat on the sofa again. His fingers drummed on the coffee table as he picked up his phone and dialed Hunk’s number. Hunk picked up instantly.

“Let me guess,” Hunk started off, “Too excited to concentrate on science?”

“Hunk,” Lance whined, standing up again. “Is it too much to ask for it to just become night already?”

“Patience, Lance,” Hunk said, laughing. “Besides, it’s 8 right now. A lot of people go to sleep at this time!”

“But I can’t sleep until at least 9!” Lance complained, glancing over at the coffee machine and wondering if he shouldn’t have drunken so much coffee before bed.

“That’s because you drink too much coffee,” Hunk said, matter-of-fact.

“You know me too well. Anyway, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway!” Lance couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to meet my soulmate tonight! I mean, kind of, but you know what I mean.”

On a person’s 18th birthday, they developed the ability to see their soulmate in their dreams and interact with them. Since soulmates were very rarely of exactly the same age, the older person usually had the younger one’s birthdate marked on their wrist. Soulmates could only see each other in their dreams after they both turned 18, so the birth date was for the older soulmate to know when their soulmate would turn 18.

Both soulmates had each other’s time zones on their wrist as well. Lance didn’t have a birthdate on his wrist, so he assumed he was the younger one.

But Lance had just turned 18, and he couldn’t wait to finally see his soulmate.

“Well, look at it this way. At least they’re in the same time zone as us, so you get to sleep at your usual time. Imagine what it’s like for the people whose soulmates live in another country, so they go to sleep at completely different times,” Hunk speculated.

Lance glanced down at the small numbers marked on the inside of his wrist. _UTC-05:00._ “That’s true.”

“Anyway, just try to finish up the science project and if that doesn’t work, read a book or something,” Hunk suggested. “I would keep talking with you, but Pidge is currently shooting me a death glare because we’re supposed to be building this robot and I’m obviously getting distracted.”

“Good luck!” Lance hung up, and dropped his phone on the sofa, stretching out and yawning. What would his soulmate be like? What would their voice be like? Their eyes? Would they like the same things as him?

Lance sighed. He wasn’t going to be able to do his science project. He reached over for the book that he had left haphazardly on the table, and flicked it open to a random page. He read for an hour before getting up and going to his bedroom.

He shut the lights and got on the bed, burying his face in the pillow to block as much light as possible. His mind was racing but he forced himself to shut out all thoughts and leave his mind blank. After what seemed like hours of waiting, he pulled himself upright and squinted at his clock, which now read 10:00. He turned his pillow over to the cool side and lay down again, stretching his arms out under the pillow like how he usually slept.

However, sleep still didn't come to him, so he got up and stumbled to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of milk and heating it up in the microwave. He drank it on the way back to his room, and set it on his bedside table, getting into bed again. However, the empty cup was stressing him, so he got up and took the cup to the kitchen, washing it and placing it back in the cupboard.

When he finally got back into bed again, he closed his eyes and focused on clearing his mind. He imagined a blank wall, but that didn't work because the blank wall kept slipping out of his thoughts like quicksilver. He tried counting sheep, but that just kept him more awake than ever. Pushing all thoughts out of his mind, he took deep breaths, regulating his breathing until his breaths slowed down and he couldn't open his tired eyelids anymore.

Finally, he drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, he was awoken by the shrill ringing of his phone. His eyes flew open, but he didn’t move. A horrible feeling was in his gut.

The phone stopped ringing, and after a few seconds it started again. Lance reached out to answer the phone. It was Hunk.

“So, how was it?” Hunk asked, his voice curious.

Lance’s voice was hollow when he answered. “They weren’t there, Hunk.”

Hunk didn’t reply for a few seconds. “Maybe they were just pulling an all-nighter?” He suggested finally, his voice small and hopeful.

“No.” Lance covered his eyes with his free hand. “Who pulls an all-nighter on the night they meet their soulmate?”

“There must be some reason,” Hunk assured Lance comfortingly. “Maybe they didn’t turn eighteen yet?”

“If I were older, then I would have their birthdate,” Lance pointed out gloomily.

“There must be some reason!” Hunk exclaimed, and Lance could imagine him wringing his hands. “Maybe their friend got sick, so they had to take them to the hospital?”

“Or,” Lance said, swallowing hard. “I just don’t have a soulmate.”

Hunk didn’t reply.                                                                                                                                              

-

Pidge looked over at Lance, and then back at Hunk. Hunk jerked his head towards Lance and tapped his wrist, so Pidge stood up and walked over to Lance.

“Are you just going to sit there all day?” She asked. Lance was sitting on the ground, and he had his arms wrapped around his knees. “Okay, first of all, your langst is contagious and you’re making everyone feel horrible. Second of all, you don’t even have anything to worry about.” She sat down next to him and patted him on the shoulder. “There are countless reasons people don’t go to sleep. And it only happened last night, right? So, you didn’t even give yourself a chance to try again!”

Lance looked at her gloomily. “Who doesn’t go to sleep when their soulmate turns eighteen?”

“Clearly, this guy,” Pidge said logically. “Or girl. Anyway, cheer up. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason.”

“I’m going to die alone, Pidge,” Lance groaned, covering his face with his hands.

“Of course you aren’t,” Pidge reasoned. “because firstly, I’m ninety percent sure you do have a soulmate. In fact, there’s only a four percent chance of someone not having a soulmate, so I’m actually ninety six percent sure. Also, you have the time zone, so that pretty much confirms it. Well, technically, zero point six of the population are born with this glitch where they have a time zone but no soulmate, but that's extremely unlikely. And even if you don’t have one, plenty of people get into relationships with people who aren’t their soulmates.”

“But that’s not what I want!” Lance protested, sighing loudly. “Why me? Why do I have to be the one stuck without a soulmate?”

“You do have a soulmate!” Pidge and Hunk said at the same time.

Lance made a disgruntled sound and pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his knees again. “Hunk has Shay. You’ll find someone. I’m going to die alone.”

“No,” Pidge exclaimed, leaping to her feet. “You won’t die alone! Honestly, Lance. You’re so dramatic.”

“I’m not dramatic,” Lance refused, offended.

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Remember when I told you I had something to tell you and you started panicking because you thought I had cancer?”

Lance blinked. “Yeah, but-”

“And the time you stayed at home and wore the same pajamas for one month and only ate raw spaghetti for a whole month because that girl in your math class rejected you?”

“I was heartbroken!” Lance protested, running his hands through his hair. “People do worse things!”

“And you stopped talking to me for two weeks because I said that pineapple on pizza deserves to be thrown into hell, where it belongs.”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Pineapple pizza is awesome. You deserved that.”

Pidge shrugged. “Two weeks, Lance.”

“Guys, this argument isn’t helping anything,” Hunk put in. He moved over to sit next to Lance on the floor, motioning for Pidge to sit down as well. “Don’t worry about it, okay? You still have the rest of your life to try and meet with them. This is only the first night!”

Lance shook his head, distraught. Just as Pidge was about to say something, the loud alert of an incoming message rang from Pidge's phone. Pidge sighed and reached over to pick up her phone. Then, she perked up.

“Lance!”

Lance glanced at her, and then looked back at the carpet. “What?”

“We’re going out for dinner,” She declared loudly, standing up and pushing her glasses back on her nose. “Get ready, we’re leaving in half an hour.”

“What? No!”

“Yes.” Pidge leaned down to grab Lance’s wrists, trying to pull him to his feet. He proved to be too heavy for her, so she huffed and looked over at Hunk meaningfully. Hunk shrugged. “Hunk! Help me pick Lance up!”

“No, don’t pick Lance up.” Lance’s voice was monotone. “Lance wants to stay here and eat spaghetti.”

“You’re coming with us,” Pidge said sternly, determined. “Come on! Please?” Her tone changed to become pleading. “Matt wants us to meet his friends. Please?”

Lance shook his head.

“Lance!” Pidge dragged the word out. “Come on. You have nothing better to do.”

“We’ll leave you alone for a whole week if you come with us now?” Hunk suggested. “Well, we’ll try. No promises.”

Lance groaned loudly but he stood up, trudging to his bedroom. “Fine. You guys are so mean.” Throwing open his closet, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. He walked back to the living room, pulling on his favorite jacket. Together, the trio went outside and got inside Hunk’s car. Hunk typed an address in his phone’s GPS, and then started driving.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they parked the car near the back, and walked inside the restaurant. Immediately, Pidge waved to some people sitting at a back table, and they weaved their way around the numerous tables to reach them.

The first thing Lance noticed was that the boy sitting next to Matt was extremely hot.

Possibly the hottest person he had ever seen.

He was hot enough to make up for the fact that he had an honest-to-God mullet, which Lance didn’t know was even a thing anymore. He was wearing a leather jacket, and he had his arms crossed. His face was twisted into a grimace, and Lance wondered if he was forced to come here. 

The most striking thing about him was his eyes. They were dark, almost purple, and there was something fiery about them, like coals waiting to be ignited. It was strangely attractive.

His intent gaze was fixed on Lance. However, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had shadows under his eyes, as if he had been awake for days.

“Man, you look tired,” was the first thing that slipped out of Lance’s mouth. The boy scowled, and Lance backtracked hastily. “I mean, not in a bad way, it’s just that you look like you haven’t slept for days.”

“You must be Lance,” the boy said, and it turned out his voice was just as hot as the rest of him. He made the phrase sound like an insult.

“Well, yeah. Hi?” Lance said, uncertain. He glanced at Matt, who was watching them with an amused look on his face. Matt was the only person Lance recognized sitting at the table.

A man with white strands in his hair and a prosthetic arm leaned across the table to offer his left hand to Lance. “Don’t stress yourself. Keith’s just being angsty, as usual. I’m Shiro, Keith’s older brother.”

Lance held out his left hand to shake Shiro’s, and then sat down in the seat between Pidge and Hunk.

So, the hot boy was named Keith. _The name suits him._

“Nice to meet you, Shiro. I’m Lance, but you clearly already know that.” Lance flashed him a smile, and hoped it wasn’t too obvious that it was extremely fake. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Shiro. It was just that he couldn’t muster enough energy to produce a genuine smile.

Shiro smiled back at him warmly. “Matt’s mentioned you quite a lot.”

“All good things!” Matt put in cheerfully, turning his attention to Pidge. “How’s my Pidgeon?”

“Doing well,” Pidge said, “but Lance is langsting again.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “What happened now?”

“Don’t!” Lance hissed under his breath, and Pidge gave him a strange look, before nodding slightly. Lance didn’t want anyone other than Pidge and Hunk to know about his ‘soulmate problem’. Society saw people who didn’t have soulmates as outcasts, and Lance didn’t want anyone to look at him differently.

Then, the girl sitting next to Shiro spoke. “Matt said that you couldn’t go five minutes without flirting. Clearly, that doesn’t seem very true.”

The girl had pale grey hair and tanned skin, and her eyes were the bright blue of a summer’s day. She was very pretty, and she was the type of girl Lance normally would have started flirting with instantly. However, today, he was too downcast to think about anything of the sort.

Hunk winked at Pidge, clearly communicating, ‘Oh no, Lance is about to pull out the pick-up lines again’.

However, Lance just smiled tiredly and said, “Trust me, the reports have been exaggerated.”

Pidge gave Lance a disbelieving look.

“I’m Allura,” the girl offered politely. “Coran’s niece. I think you’ve met him before.”

Lance thought for a moment. An image of an excitable ginger man came into his mind. “Yeah, I think I have. At a party a while ago. He has orange hair, right?”

Allura nodded. “That would be him.” Then, she turned to look over her shoulder, and looked back at Shiro. “Do you think the soup will be here soon?”

“Yeah, in a few minutes, I think.” Shiro quickly glanced behind them. “Yeah. Keith, what did you order again?”

“I don’t know.” Keith still had his arms crossed and his voice was sulky.

Lance wanted to ask him why he was acting so moody, but something stopped him. Suddenly uncomfortable again, he looked down at his lap. The numbers on his wrist flashed up at him, and he felt bitter. Why was it only him who was left without a soulmate?

“Lance?” Pidge’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “You okay?”

“I need a moment,” Lance said abruptly, standing up and striding away from the table, ignoring Pidge and Hunk’s calls behind him. He went out the side door to the restaurant’s garden and sat down at the edge of the fountain. The fountain was made up of several lions spouting water out of their mouths, and he stared into the water. The bottom of the fountain was laden with coins.

He sensed someone sitting down beside him. Automatically, he turned away.

“They sent me out after you,” The person began awkwardly, and Lance recognized the voice as Keith’s. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lance said shortly. “Are you fine?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith’s voice had hardened. 

Lance turned to face Keith. Keith was even hotter up close, but Lance didn’t allow himself to get distracted by that. “You just look really tired and you’ve been acting like you’re mad about something. I mean,” Lance added, “I don’t actually know you, so I can't really be the judge of that, but you’ve got a terrible aura going. Just saying.”

Keith snorted. “And you don’t? Your friends have been saying a lot of stuff about you, and you haven’t been living up to anything they said.”

Lance sighed and dipped his left hand in the water, letting his fingers trail along the surface. “I’m not having a very good day.”

Keith gave him a small smile. “Neither am I. But fair warning; I am not the best person to talk with about this sort of stuff. I mean, talking about your problems.”

“I wasn’t going to, Mullet.”

Keith frowned at the nickname. Lance looked over at the row of red and blue flowers.

“If you want to, I’m here, though. I kind of suck at being the therapist too, but I’m willing to try. Mostly because you’re really hot, but also because that’s what Pidge would tell me to do.” _Idiot. Why did I say that?_

Keith was taken aback. “I’m hot?”

“Well, duh.”

Keith looked adorably confused. “I don’t know?” He looked away quickly, embarrassed.

“You look so flustered, it’s so cute.” Lance sighed and stretched out his legs. “I kind of want to die right now.”

“Me too.” Keith stared straight ahead at the wall, suddenly serious again. This guy had some serious mood swings.

“Suicide pact?” Lance offered. Keith just stared at him. “So, not such a great idea. What about a date, instead?”

“A date is nothing like a suicide pact,” Keith informed him, and his cheeks turned a light pink. 

“Aw, really?” Lance said, sarcastic. “There goes my Saturday plans.” Lance’s heart was beating fast, and he wondered if he made the wrong move. A lot of people refused to date anyone but their soulmate, and many people got offended when they got asked out by someone who was not their soulmate.

“I mean, if you want, we could go out sometime?” Keith said tentatively, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Without making a suicide pact?”

Lance laughed, elated, his mood lifting. “I love how you sound so uncertain about that. The suicide pact, I mean.”

Keith was now fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.

“You look really nervous,” Lance observed. “You’re really red. Like, seriously red. You look like you’re about to combust.”

“You’re making me nervous,” Keith admitted, looking away shyly. Lance’s pulse quickened.

“Keith, you’re like seventeen. How are you nervous about going on a date?” Lance teased, but internally he thought that he was probably more nervous than Keith was. The air felt very hot, all of a sudden, and he hoped his face wasn’t red.

“I’m eighteen,” Keith corrected. “I’ll be nineteen in a few months.”

“Then, have you found your soulmate?” Lance asked without thinking. Something flashed across Keith’s eyes.

“No,” he said shortly.

“You don’t have a soulmate?” Lance prompted, and then he wanted to slap himself. _What kind of a question is that?!_

Keith didn’t answer, so they sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the crystal water bubbling next to them. Then, Keith spoke, and his voice was small. “I have a soulmate. I just- never mind.”

“Oh. Well, in that case, we don't have to go out if you don’t want to. I mean, we could just as friends,” Lance said quickly, trying to hide his disappointment.

Keith cleared his throat. “It doesn’t matter. Forget it. Let’s go inside.”

Later that evening, when it was time for them to leave and go home, Lance gave Keith his number and told Keith to call him. He wasn’t sure if Keith still wanted to go out with him after the awkward ending to their conversation, but before he reached home, his phone pinged with a message from an unknown number.

_Unknown:_

_So, do you still want to go out?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! :) I will be posting the rest of the chapters soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter includes a scene where a character tries to self-harm. This is unsuccessful and they don't actually manage to cut themselves. However, it might be potentially triggering, so please skip over that scene if you feel uncomfortable.

It was the fifth morning Lance had woken up without meeting his soulmate, and he had lost all hope. What kind of person would stay up for five days?

The numbers on his wrist were more prominent than ever, mocking him. With each passing day, they got bolder and blacker, and Lance had no idea what was causing it. He knew that sometimes the time zone markings changed with the owner's soulmate's mood, but he didn't know what caused his to change like this. His soulmate must be in a pretty foul mood.

Lance couldn't deal with this anymore. He got out of bed and stomped to the kitchen, grabbing a thin knife, and then went to his bathroom. He held his hand out over the sink and brought the knife closer so the tip of it was touching the 5 on his wrist. He knew that this was an insane thing to do, but that stupid time zone was torturing him. It was just a reminder of how he was in the 0.6 percent of the population that had a time zone but no soulmate. He was just a glitch in the system.

He took a deep breath and pressed the knife harder.

Instinctively, he jolted back and dropped the knife. There was nothing on his wrist but a shallow indent, without any cuts. Lance inwardly cursed himself and kneeled down to pick up the knife again. This time, he held the knife sideways, so its edge was resting along the length of the markings.

He could feel the knife against the outline of his veins, and he hesitated. If he did this wrong, he might accidentally cut a vein. He didn't want to die. Just get rid of those markings. Carefully, he inspected the outlines of the veins. Thankfully, the time zone didn't seem to be on a vein. Satisfied, he lightly dragged the knife along the markings. There was a slight sting, but no cuts appeared.

Lance slammed his hands on the counter. He couldn't even manage something as simple as this. Just as he was about to try again, the doorbell rang. It was probably Hunk or Pidge. Though he really wasn't in the mood for socializing, it wasn't fair on Hunk and Pidge to ignore them. They didn't do anything wrong.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, it was Hunk and Pidge, wearing matching concerned expressions.

"Hey, guys," Lance said cheerily, but it fell flat. Hunk and Pidge knew him too well. He dropped the fake smile and stepped aside to let them in.

"Lance, you need to let us help you," Pidge said, deadly serious. "You can't go on like this. It's been four days since we all went out, and you haven't left your house a single time. Have you even been eating?"

In response, Lance pointed at the stack of empty pizza containers on the coffee table.

Hunk grimaced and lifted the lid of one of the containers to find half eaten crusts inside. "That does not look healthy."

Lance shrugged. "It's alright with me." Pidge shook her head and sat down on the sofa.

"Okay, this is not alright!" Hunk announced. "But that's what we're here for. To make you feel better!"

"Sorry, but I don't think it's going to work, buddy," Lance said quietly. Hunk gave him a sympathetic look.

"Maybe baking?" Hunk offered, pulling out his wallet and flicking through the bills inside it. "Baking always makes me feel better. I'll go out and get the stuff we need, and Pidge will make sure you don't jump off the balcony or something."

Pidge nodded in approval. "I'll make sure Lance is alright. The shop's close enough, right?"

"Yeah," Hunk called out, already out the door. "See you soon!"

Pidge turned to Lance. "I'm going to the bathroom, alright? I’ll be back in a bit." Lance nodded silently so she got up and walked off down the corridor and into the bathroom. A few seconds later, she stepped out again.

She held up the knife, and her eyes were burning lasers.

Lance froze.

"You're going to explain this, Lance." Pidge's voice was cold and calm.

Lance said the first thing that came to mind. "I was trying to cut my hair."

Pidge just stared at him.

He couldn't keep looking at her, so he looked down at the carpet. There was silence. "I'm sorry."

The door burst open, and Hunk burst in carrying a bagful of groceries. "Hey, guys, I'm back with cake stuff and- Pidge, are you about to kill Lance?"

Pidge glanced at the knife she was still holding and put it down on the table. "I found this in the bathroom."

Hunk's mouth dropped open and he dropped the bag. Then, he rushed over and grabbed Lance's wrists, checking for any cuts. Lance flinched but didn't pull away. Hunk let go of Lance once he saw there were no cuts, but he was still staring at Lance in horror. "Why?"

"It's not what you think it is," Lance tried wearily. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Why hadn’t he put the damn knife back in the kitchen instead of leaving it in the bathroom where anyone could find it and assume the worst?

Hunk and Pidge looked at him expectantly.

"I just..." Lance trailed off, unable to explain. There was nothing he could say that would get him out of this mess. "I just wanted to get rid of it. The marks. I made sure that I wouldn't be cutting any veins, first."

Pidge softened. "Lance, I'm so sorry. About this whole soulmate ordeal."

"It's not your fault," Lance said, although he knew it wasn’t what Pidge meant.

"Still," Pidge said. "You deserve more than this."

That was what he loved about Pidge. Although many people would launch into a long speech about how Lance shouldn’t let this get to him and how he didn’t need a soulmate, Pidge didn’t do that. She could say one simple sentence, and it would mean more than a thousand words because she truly meant what she was saying. _You deserve more than this._

"Well, that's life," Lance said. He didn't want to keep talking about this. He was sick of everything. "Can we bake now?"

Hunk brightened. "Yeah! I have all the stuff we need." He walked over to the bag, which was still on the ground, and peered in it. "I hope the eggs didn't break."

Hunk was right. Baking did cheer Lance up, and the sight of the finished cake baking in the oven was enough to lift Lance's spirits. Pidge and Hunk sat on the kitchen chairs while Lance sat on the ground beside the oven. The air around the oven was warm and cozy.

"So, what did you think of Keith?" Pidge was trying to act casual, but the excitement in her voice gave her away.

"You're like a mom trying to find a husband for her child," Lance pointed out, avoiding the question.

"Excuse you, I consider myself the cool big sister," Pidge said, deadpan.                   

"Pidge, you're several years younger than me."

"But I am older in spirit!" Pidge declared. "Also, I never spent a whole month living on spaghetti."

Lance huffed, exasperated. "That was one time!"

"Sure, sure,” Pidge dismissed. "Anyway, don't change the subject. Keith?"

"We're going out on Saturday," Lance said casually. Pidge gasped.

"What? As friends, or romantically?"

Lance considered the question. Keith did say that he had a soulmate, but he also said that the soulmate didn't matter, not to mention that Keith had said that Lance was making him nervous. So, a lot of mixed signals. "I think romantically. Probably."

Probably?" Hunk prompted.

Lance shrugged. "He said he had a soulmate, but he also said I was making him nervous and he said yes to going out even when I said it was a date, so honestly, I have no idea."

"He has a soulmate?" Hunk echoed, his voice tinged with disappointment.

Lance frowned. "He seemed a bit secretive about the whole thing. If he does have a soulmate, they're probably sort of the 'it's complicated' type."

"Maybe he's one of the people who don't mind dating people other than their soulmates? I mean, it's twenty-seventeen. A lot of people date around, or just remain platonic friends with their soulmates.”

"Okay, but not all people want to do that," Lance said. "Maybe he only wants to be romantic partners with his soulmate."

Pidge made a frustrated sound. "You just said that he wanted to go on a date with you!"

"Don't be so negative!" Hunk said firmly.

"Anyway, Keith and I are going out Saturday," Lance repeated, "but I don't actually know where. I'm supposed to be picking him up, which I think kind of implies that I choose what happens."

"Not the movies!" Hunk said instantly. "It's a really antisocial thing to do and honestly it's just a waste of your time together."

"But I don't know what he likes!" Lance complained. "I'm going to mess it up, Hunk!"

"You're not going to mess it up," Hunk soothed.

"What would he like, Pidge?" Lance asked, looking at Pidge.

"I don't know, ask Shiro. Honestly, Lance, you don’t need to stress yourself with finding the perfect place,” Pidge said, yawning and stretching her arms. “Just take him somewhere that means something to you.”

“But I don’t have any places that mean anything to me,” Lance protested. “Maybe we can just go to a park or something?”

"Yeah, that's probably best. Which day is it today, again?" Pidge pulled out her phone and opened the calendar app. "Oh, it's Friday. So, tomorrow, right?”

"Tomorrow!" Lance yelled, leaping to his feet. "I have to pick what to wear!"

As he ran to his bedroom, he heard a deafening screech behind him. "The cake!"

-

Lance waited outside in the car, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel nervously. He had already called Keith to come downstairs, and he had been waiting for 5 minutes. Then, a thought occurred to him. What if he had read the situation wrong, and Keith didn't actually like him that way? What if Keith stood him up? What if him and Shiro were secretly laughing behind Lance's back? What if-

His thoughts were interrupted by a tapping at his window. It was Keith. Lance breathed out in relief and unlocked the car doors. Keith walked around to the passenger side and got in, shutting the door behind him. He was fiddling with the keys he was holding and didn't say anything, so Lance took the moment to look him over. Keith was wearing his usual leather jacket with a pair of black jeans, and his hair was tied back. He looked amazing.

"What are you looking at?" Keith asked suddenly, looking at Lance and then looking away quickly.

Lance blushed. He didn't think Keith had noticed Lance staring at him. "Uh, nothing?"

"That sounds like a question," Keith said, eyeing him skeptically.

"Uh, anyway. We're going- wait, it's a surprise!' Lance tore his gaze away and started the car up while Keith gave him a confused look.

"Can't you just tell me?" Keith asked, cocking his head to the side.

Lance smiled innocently. "No, it's a surprise!"

Keith pouted. "But I want to know!"

"Keith, you have no romance in your soul," Lance informed him, glancing at him and then looking back at the road. He felt awkward, and he guessed that Keith was uncomfortable too, considering how Keith was fidgeting and his gaze was flitting around. Did Keith even want to be here?

Keith took a deep breath and put his keys in his pocket, then laced his fingers together. His fingers tightened.

"Is something wrong?" Lance asked, his own fingers tightening on the steering wheel.

"I have to tell you something," Keith said abruptly, and Lance noticed how tired he still looked. Though he wanted to say something, Lance stayed silent. "I think-" He made a frustrated sound. "I suck in social situations. So- I just wanted to say it's not you. That's making me nervous. I mean, you are making me nervous, but not in a bad way. I'm just really awkward in general."

Lance breathed out in relief and he relaxed in his seat. "You really stressed me out for a second there."

"Sorry," Keith muttered, looking down at his hands. "I'm really awkward."

"It's fine. I think it's cute," Lance confessed. Keith's cheeks turned pink.

"I'm not that cute," Keith said. "But-" He looked out of the window awkwardly, "you are. Cute, I mean. You're cute."

"Thanks," Lance said, smiling shyly and running a hand through his hair, messing it up, before smoothing it down again. Keith thought he was cute?

Keith didn't say anything else, so they sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, Keith said, "I like it when you play with your hair."

Lance blushed, something he never would have expected of himself. "It's just a habit."

"It's a cute habit," Keith admitted, still refusing to make eye contact. Lance smiled at him, embarrassed, and didn’t say anything.

When they arrived at the park, Lance looked at Keith nervously. What if Keith thought if the park was too boring?

Keith brightened when he saw where they were. “Oh, this park?”

Lance was already apologizing. “Sorry, you might think it’s a bit boring, but I just-”

“No, it’s fine! Really cool, actually!” Keith exclaimed. “There’s a library here that I really like.”

“Maybe we should go there, then?” Lance offered. “I mean, it’s better than walking around and getting bitten by insects.”

Keith nodded, excited. Then, he hesitated and took a few deep breaths, as if composing himself. “Sorry. I got a bit excited there. I just really like books.”

“No, it’s completely fine to be excited!” Lance said, surprised that Keith would feel self-conscious about something as pure as excitement. “And honestly, you’re really cute when you’re excited about something.”

Keith smiled at him doubtingly. “Do you want to go, then?”

They got out of the car and walked through the gates of the park, setting off towards the library. The library was close to the gates, and it barely took them five minutes to reach it. The library was a small, cozy building, and it always smelt like baked goods. The smell wafted around them as Keith and Lance stepped inside the library, and they both glanced at the small café hidden in the corner.

The ceilings of the library were lined with fairy lights and comfy sofas were scattered around, with piles of books stacked up on the seats of the sofas.

An idea occurred to Lance. “Keith, I have an idea.”

“Yeah?” Keith asked. “What is it?”

Lance raised a fist triumphantly, proud of himself. “We’re going to go to the romance section and find the worst scenes we possibly can!”

Keith looked amused. “I’m pretty sure every single book in the romance section is trash.”

“Then we’ll find the worst trash!”

The romance section was close by, and Lance immediately grabbed the first book he saw off the shelf. Flipping through the pages, his eyes scanned the pages, but nothing especially bad struck him.

Keith let out a short laugh, and Lance spun around to see what had happened. Keith held up a book. “Okay, listen to this. _Hardin is like a drug; each time I take the tiniest bit of him, I crave more and more. He consumes my thoughts and invades my dreams.”_

“Yikes.” Lance held in his laughter, remembering that they were in a library. “That’s just weird.”

“I know, right?” Keith pulled out another book from the shelf, so Lance turned back to his own shelf, picking out another book. It was entitled, _The girl in the garden._ He opened it to a random page.

_“Oh, Alex!” I gasped, unable to believe that he was back. “You’re back!”_

_He shot me a dazzling smile, and my kidneys dissolved into slimy puddles of goo. “How could I leave my best girl?”_

_I ran towards him and he picked me up, spinning me around in his arms. When he set me back down, I was dizzy, both from the spinning and the intoxicating scent of his cologne. “I thought you’d never come back!”_

_“I’m sorry,” He murmured, his eyes boring into mine like drills. “Your cousin, she means nothing to me. We broke it off long ago. You mean something to me.”_

_“You mean something to me too!” I exclaimed, my cheeks pink._

_“I’ll never leave you again, Kalopsia.” He leaned down to kiss me._

Lance groaned and physically facepalmed. Without saying anything, he handed the book to Keith, who read the page.

Keith smirked. “I don’t know. I think we shouldn’t judge poor Kalopsia and her slimy puddles of goo.”

Lance played along. “You’re right. And it totally doesn’t matter that Alex probably cheated on her with her cousin.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I think I’ll win this round.” Keith handed Lance another book. “Page 163. Just- just read it.”

_Her eyes were shining like the fluorescent lights at a Target at 3 am, and her hair was a tangle of black liquorice. I had the sudden crazy urge to see if it tasted like liquorice. I stopped myself. What was I doing?_

_She smiled at me and stepped closer. She was swaying as if drunk. “I love you.”_

_My heart stopped. “No.”_

_She was closer now. “Yes.” She flung her arms around my neck, but her arms felt like floppy, dead fish. I wanted to be her fishing net._

_“Fine.” I patted her back. “But we should get you home first. You’re drunk.”_

_“I’m drunk for you!” She sang, reaching up to kiss me. She tasted like dead fish, and I wondered what the hell she was doing before I found her. I jerked back._

_“You taste like dead fish,” I informed her._

_“Ouch, John.” She sounded unamused. “That’s hurtful.”_

_“I’m just being realistic!” I protested. Her eyes were full of hurt, like a teenage girl who had just been dumped by her boyfriend after they had sex on prom night because he thought that she tasted like dead fish. She avoided eye contact. I huffed. “Fine.” I kissed her again, hoping it would taste better, but I just couldn’t do it._

Lance was laughing uncontrollably by the time he reached the bottom of the page, and Keith was snickering as well. “Dead fish?!”

 _“_ Someone actually thought this would be a good idea?” Keith sputtered, and Lance shook his head, speechless. “No, I mean, just imagine this, right? Just imagine someone sitting at their computer, thinking about what to write, and then suddenly thinking, ‘oh, I’ve got it!’, and then they write down _her arms felt like floppy, dead fish. I wanted to be her fishing net._ ”

Lance laughed again, and then pressed his hand against his mouth to keep himself quiet. “Let’s just hope that we don’t come across fifty shades of grey.”

Keith’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, God, no. Shiro made me read it.”

Lance wondered if he heard correctly. “Shiro?”

Keith slapped a hand across his own mouth, looking horrified. “I wasn’t supposed to say that!”

“What, don’t tell me Shiro read it?!” Lance guffawed, imagining the mature and serious Shiro reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

“It’s his guilty pleasure,” Keith confided in a hushed whisper. “Don’t tell him I told you, he’ll skin me alive.” Lance was still laughing, and Keith punched his shoulder playfully. “Stop laughing! I’m about to be killed!”

“Sorry!” Lance managed to say. “But I can imagine Shiro just sitting somewhere in a corner, hissing at anyone who tries to take his book.”

Keith laughed in spite of himself. “That’s a pretty accurate description of Shiro.”

“See, I’m laughing now, but Pidge was the one who dared me to read fifty shades of grey, so I actually read it too,” Lance confessed. “And let me tell you, Ana refers to her inner goddess a grand total of 58 times in the first book only.”

Keith shook his head. “I was traumatized. And after I read it, I told Shiro that it was shit, but he just said that I didn’t get it because I wasn’t straight, which didn’t make any sense at all.”

Lance’s heart skipped a beat at the fact that Keith just confirmed that he wasn’t straight. Then, he internally scolded himself. Keith was literally on a date with him right now. There was a ninety percent chance he wasn’t straight.

Keith seemed to have realized what he said, as well. “Uh, yeah. Well, anyway.”

Before Lance could stop himself, the words left his mouth. “Are we on a date right now?”

Keith looked dismayed. “Wait, you didn’t know? What?”

“What?” Lance repeated, utterly confused.

“Are we?” Keith looked confused too, and a little hurt. “Do you want to be?”

Lance stared at him in disbelief. “I was literally the one who asked you out, Keith. I called you cute several times. Of course I want to be on a date with you!”

“Oh. Oh, thanks,” Keith said, looking mortified. “God, I’m so awkward. It’s just that-” He took a deep breath, frustrated. “I mean, I want to be on a date with you too.”

“Thanks,” Lance said, flushing pink. _Thanks? Seriously?_ “I mean, uh, yeah.”

They continued like that for hours, periodically moving to different sections of the library and showing each other the worst lines they could find. Not only that, but they talked endlessly, about Lance’s family and Keith’s passion for reading and countless other topics. For the first time, Lance felt as if he had found someone that he truly connected with, and he had never felt this close to someone, though he had only known Keith for such a short time.

There was just something about Keith that set Lance’s heart on fire. Lance was almost dizzy with happiness, and he couldn’t help but laugh when he remembered the line from the first book he had showed Keith, and how he was basically becoming Kalopsia. _You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain._

When they had exhausted the books in the small library and the sky outside was dusky, they sat on the ground and the smell of baked goods surrounded them, soft and pleasant. Keith rested his head on Lance’s shoulder, and Lance stayed as still as possible, hoping that Keith wouldn’t move away. Keith’s body was warm pressed up against Lance’s side, and Lance wished he could stay in the moment forever.

But then his eyes drifted to the marks on his own wrist again. He closed his eyes, but he could still see them in his mind.

“Keith?” Lance said. Keith made a sleepy sound. “Are you tired?”

“No,” Keith said quietly, but his eyelids were half closed and his lashes were brushing his cheeks.

“You look really tired,” Lance said softly. It was only evening, but Keith looked exhausted. He had heavy eyebags and dark shadows under his eyes. “Keith, is something wrong?”

“No.” Keith’s voice was drowsy.

“Let’s go, alright?” Lance said gently, standing up and pulling Keith to his feet along with him. Keith blinked rapidly at the intrusion of light into his eyes and he buried his face in Lance’s shoulder. Lance took the opportunity to hold Keith’s hand, leading him outside to his car. He helped Keith get into the car, and then he went back to the driver’s seat and started driving towards Keith’s house.

By now, the sky was a black canopy with stars scattered all over it, as if a cosmic deity had spilled a bucket of diamonds over an endless black field. The streetlights flashed as Lance drove past them, and since Keith lived in a rather isolated area they weren’t passing any other cars. It was only the two of them, and Lance felt as if they were the only two people on Earth.

When they arrived at Keith’s apartment building, Lance carried Keith bridal-style out of the car and into the elevator. Keith’s protests were weak and feeble. Shiro had mentioned which floor they lived on a while ago, while telling some story about a stalker lunch lady and a pool boy, so Lance pressed that button now.

It only took them a few seconds to reach Keith’s floor, and Lance hoped the sound of the ringing doorbell wouldn’t shake Keith out of his daze. Keith looked like he needed the sleep.

Shiro answered the door, and when he saw Lance carrying Keith, he froze.

“He’s really tired.” Lance hoped Shiro didn’t think he drugged Keith or something like that.

Shiro’s mouth was practically hanging open. “He’s asleep?”

“Nearly,” Lance said, glancing down at Keith, whose eyes were now closed. “Why?”

Shiro gaped at him, shaking his head slowly. “He’s asleep.”

“Is that bad?” Lance was suddenly anxious.

“No, no!” Shiro seemed to leap out of his stupor, and he moved aside to let Lance into the flat. “Oh, God. He’s actually asleep.”

“What is it, Shiro?”

Shiro hesitated. “Keith wouldn’t want me to say. Never mind, alright? His bedroom’s over there.” Shiro changed the subject and pointed at a door in the corner of the room. Lance was curious about why Shiro was so surprised that Keith was asleep, but he decided to ask about it another time. Lance kicked the door open and stepped inside. The room was empty, save for a large bed and a bedside table with an empty glass on it.

Gently, he placed Keith on the bed. Keith must have fallen asleep by now, and he looked peaceful.

Lance turned to leave, but he heard Keith whisper behind him, soft and drowsy. “Don’t go.”

Lance looked at him, uncertain. “Me?”

“Yeah. Can you stay?” Keith’s eyes were barely open. “Please.”

“Are you sure?” Lance asked hesitantly. Maybe it was just Keith’s sleepiness that was driving him to ask Lance to stay now.

“Yes. Please. Just for tonight.” Keith was pleading, and Lance didn’t have the heart to say no. He pulled off his shoes and climbed into the bed, settling beside Keith.

Keith let out a comforted sigh and nuzzled against Lance, and Lance put his arms around Keith. Keith was warm, and his hair was soft. Before he could change his mind, Lance kissed Keith’s forehead.

The room was too warm for a blanket, and he was content pressed against Keith like this, with Keith snuggled against his chest.

The room was warm and quiet, and stars twinkled outside.

Tomorrow, they would talk.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning sun shone through the thin curtains, casting light over the small room where two boys lay curled up on the bed.

When Lance woke, Keith was already awake. Keith was staring at the ceiling. A wave of embarrassment hit Lance. Keith probably didn’t actually want him here, he must have misunderstood Keith last night, he-

“Sorry,” Keith said, still staring at the ceiling. “I shouldn’t have asked you to stay.”

Lance was quiet. He was right. Keith didn’t want him here. Then, he spoke. “You fell asleep pretty early last night.”

Keith hesitated. “Yeah.”

Lance wanted to say something that would diffuse this awkwardness, but his mind was stuck on the strange dream he had last night.  

_The landscape was dark, and shadows were everywhere. It was a wide, open field, but everything was grey and black. Colorless. Devoid._

_Except for a figure now walking towards Lance. The figure had black hair and grey fingers and when Lance reached out to touch them, they disappeared._

_Then, a voice echoed through the empty space. The voice sounded familiar, but Lance couldn’t remember who it belonged to. A name was on the tip of his tongue._

_Just as he could taste the name in his mouth and the sound of it was about to enter his ears, the landscape dissolved._

“Lance?” Keith was giving him a strange look.

“Are you mad at me?” Lance blurted out. Keith had seemed so desperate for him to stay the previous night, and now he was acting as if he regretted it. It was all so confusing.

Keith sighed as if he had been expecting the question. “No. You should be mad at me. I shouldn’t have asked you to stay.”

“I was hoping you would ask me to.” As soon as the words left Lance’s mouth he regretted them.

Keith blinked, surprised. “You were?”

Lance was tired of diluting his feelings. He wanted to tell Keith the truth, and if Keith reacted badly, he would just have to deal with it. “Yes. I was.”

Keith didn’t say anything, but he took Lance’s hand and squeezed it. “Come on. I’ll make you breakfast.”

Lance let out a quiet sigh of relief as they walked to the kitchen, their hands still entwined.

Keith’s kitchen was small, but his fridge was full of food. Lance sat at the kitchen table while Keith cracked a few eggs into a pan and flipped a few switches. The two omelets were ready in a few minutes, and Keith loaded them onto a plate, unceremoniously plonking the plate on the table.

“I’m not that good at cooking,” Keith admitted, leaning over to open a drawer and take out two forks. He handed one of them to Lance and kept the other for himself. “Omelets are the only thing I can make, and I can’t even make them that well. Shiro can make them with mushrooms and cheese and some other stuff, but clearly I can’t.”

Lance smiled brightly. “I don’t like mushrooms anyway. No offense to Shiro.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t be offended,” Keith assured. “He’s not that brilliant a cook anyway. You know, once Shiro invited Allura over for dinner, and it was their first date, so he decided to make some fancy dinner that he had absolutely no idea how to make.”

“Sounds like shit’s about to go down,” Lance supplied.

Keith laughed and nodded. “So, she was sitting in the living room while he tried to make the dinner, and he realized that he forgot the main ingredient. I think he was supposed to be making some sort of pasta with shrimp, but he forgot the shrimp. So, he tried to replace it with chicken, but he ended up burning the chicken. It was all he had for dinner, though, so poor Allura had to choke down the burnt chicken and pretend it tasted good.”

Lance laughed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Keith confirmed. “Since then, I don’t let Shiro cook ‘fancy dinners’ anymore.”

“I can relate,” Lance said. “Pidge once tried to make beef stroganoff and it turned out she bought lamb instead of beef. And it even said lamb on the label!”

“Well, I can’t really be talking. I can barely make toast.” Keith shrugged.

“Luckily, I am a brilliant chef!” Lance announced, proud. “And it’s not only my mom who says so!”

Keith gave him a dry look. “I bet.”

Lance pouted, affronted. “I am good at cooking! You should come over for dinner some time, I’ll show you.”

“Sure, Lance.” Keith looked amused.

Lance didn’t know what to say next. The conversation had petered out, and he couldn’t think of anything interesting to say. “I had a strange dream.”

“Really?” Keith asked, interested. He leaned forward. “What was it?”

How could he explain it? The dream had been so strange; like it was only an impression of what it could have been. “It was weird. There was this strange landscape with no color, and then this figure was coming towards me. Then their voice kind of echoed through my head, and it was really familiar but I just couldn’t remember whose voice it was!”

Keith stared at him, shocked. Lance shifted uncomfortably and asked, “What?”

Keith shook his head quickly, snapping out of it. “Sorry. Never mind. I just- never mind. That does sound pretty strange.”

Lance wondered if he said something wrong. Was it weird to talk about your dreams to someone who you only had one date with?

“Lance. Don’t worry about it,” Keith said, seemingly reading Lance’s mind. “I just remembered something. I think Shiro forgot his keys.”

“Did he go out?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded. “He goes out for morning runs a lot. He says it’s to escape me.”

Lance smirked and leaned closer. “Who would want to escape you?”

Keith seemed oblivious to the come-on. “Shiro, apparently.”

Lance sighed in resignation. He was just about to say something else when he noticed the marks on Keith’s wrist, which were especially long. He must have a birth date. Keith noticed him looking and jerked his hand back. “Sorry, I just-”

“No problem,” Keith said quickly. “Sorry. It was a reflex.”

“You’re older?” Lance asked tactlessly. Though society considering asking about someone’s soulmate rather rude, Lance couldn’t control his curiosity.

“Yeah,” Keith answered, looking uncomfortable.

“Are they eighteen yet?” Lance questioned, all the while internally cursing himself for being so nosy.

Keith swallowed hard and avoided Lance’s gaze. “They turned eighteen recently.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Keith said shortly.

“But you haven’t met them?” Lance continued, remembering what Keith had said earlier, when they had first met.

Keith was now avoiding eye contact. “No. Well-” he hesitated. “I think I might have. Maybe. Last night.”

Lance’s heart stopped. “What?”

Keith stood up and picked up the now empty plate, taking it over to the dishwasher. “Was the omelet alright?”

“You met them last night?”

Keith turned to face Lance, leaning against the fridge. “I don’t know. It’s more like… it’s more like I only met an impression of them. I woke up before I could recognize them.”

“That’s really interesting. I kind of had the same thing happen,” Lance said slowly. “Except I didn’t wake up. The dream just kind of shut down, like everything was sucked into a vacuum.”

“That’s interesting,” Keith echoed. He moved his hands behind his back. “Interesting.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “What are the odds?”

“Pretty low,” Keith said. Then, he cleared his throat. “It was really nice seeing you, Lance. I had a great time.”

Lance smiled, distracted from their original topic. “Me too. We should do it again.”

Keith smiled back at him. “We should.”

-

When Lance arrived at his house, Pidge and Hunk were sitting on the ground outside the door, looking bored. When they saw Lance, they stood up.

“Lance!” Hunk greeted. “How did it go?”

“Did he corrupt you?” Pidge accused, looking Lance over. “You were there all night and I swear, if he corrupted my innocent cinnamon roll I will kill him.”

“There was no corrupting going on!” Lance exclaimed, indignant. “And you can’t kill him!”

Hunk punched Lance’s shoulder playfully. “Relax, buddy. I won’t let Pidge kill Keith.”

“How did it go?” Pidge demanded. “I want details! Where did you go? What did you do? Any corrupting?”

“Let me get into my house, first,” Lance said, unlocking the door and letting them in. They all sat on the sofa. “Okay. So.”

“So?” Pidge prompted impatiently, practically bouncing on the seat. “Tell us about it!”

“We went to the library, and we showed each other the worst passages we could find in books, and then Keith got really tired so I took him to his house, and then we fell asleep. In a completely innocent way!” Lance said hastily. “There was no corrupting involved!”

Pidge nodded approvingly while Hunk beamed at Lance.

“I’m so happy for you, Lance!” Hunk pulled Lance into a tight hug. Lance hugged him back gratefully. Hunk was the best hugger. It was even official; they had made him a certificate and a badge.

“Thanks, buddy,” Lance said warmly.

“Me too!” Pidge didn’t like being hugged, so she patted Lance’s shoulder affectionately. “I’m really happy you’ve found someone you really like.”

Lance blushed faintly. “I do really like him.”

Pidge gave him a knowing smile.

-

Lance sat on his bed, staring at his wrist.

The marks had gone back to their original thin font. If he had a soulmate, they must be feeling better.

He put a hand over his eyes. This was so confusing. His marks kept changing, which was a sure sign that he had a soulmate, but why hadn’t he seen his soulmate in his dreams yet?

Unless… unless he had? That strange dream he had with the grey landscape and the abstract figure… could that have been his soulmate?

No. You were supposed to be able to talk to your soulmate and see their face clearly. He definitely didn’t see this figure’s face.

_But could it be them? And if it was them, why couldn’t I see them properly?_

Lance had an idea. He reached over for his computer and turned it on. When the search engine loaded, he typed in, _why can’t I see my soulmate?_

Instantly, thousands of hits showed up. He clicked on the first link, which said, _10 reasons you haven’t seen your soulmate yet._

 _1 st reason: You haven’t turned eighteen yet, or your soulmate hasn’t. _Lance scrolled past that one. He was the younger one, and he had already turned eighteen, so his soulmate definitely had.

 _2 nd reason: You have a mark glitch. _Lance swallowed hard and scrolled past that one as well. He wasn’t ready to accept the idea of having a mark glitch.

 _3 rd reason: You have met them and didn’t recognize them. _Lance tilted his head in confusion and read the paragraph, which stated that a lot of people saw someone in their dreams and had a conversation with them but didn’t realize that it was their soulmate. It was surprisingly common. However, Lance hadn’t talked with anyone in his dreams, so he scrolled past that one too.

 _4 th reason: Your soulmate has been avoiding you. _The paragraph explained that some people saw their soulmates in their dream landscapes but hid behind trees or something like that, to avoid their soulmate. It wasn’t very common, but some people were too scared or nervous to meet their soulmates, or already had a romantic relationship and didn’t want a soulmate. Lance hoped that wasn’t the case.

This was hopeless. Lance shut the computer and placed it back on the table.

It took him a few seconds to register that his phone was ringing.

Then, he grabbed his phone. It was Keith.

“Hey, Keith. Did you need something?”

“ _Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to talk to you.”_

Lance couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Really?”

“ _Don’t laugh at me!”_ Lance could imagine Keith’s pout.

“I’m not laughing!” Lance protested. “I actually wanted to talk to you as well.”

_“Really? Why?”_

“I’m not having a very good day,” Lance admitted. It was an understatement.

_“Me too, actually. What happened with you?”_

“The usual,” Lance said vaguely. He didn’t want to bother Keith with his problems. Keith probably thought he was weird enough as it was. “What about you?”

There was a pause before Keith answered. _“Do you want to go out for coffee?”_

Lance’s face broke into a smile. “I would love that.”

He could hear the relief in Keith’ voice when Keith said, _“Great. You know that coffeeshop on the corner? Over by my house?”_

“Yeah, I know it.”

_“Maybe there?”_

Lance nodded, though Keith couldn’t see him. “Sounds good. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

“ _See you, Lance.”_

Forty-five minutes later, Lance was sitting across Keith at the coffeeshop. It was a quaint little place, with old movie posters framed on the walls and flowerpots on all the tabletops. Keith had a black coffee, and Lance had ordered a milkshake.

“So, how’ve you been?” Keith asked.

Lance shrugged and gave him a small smile. “I’ve missed you.”

Keith blushed and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He hadn’t tied his hair this time. “I missed you, too. Is that weird?”

Their hands were only inches apart, and Lance reached out to clasp Keith’s hand in his, making Keith turn a bright red. “I don’t think so.”

Keith squeezed Lance’s hand. “Good.”

“I really like you, Keith,” Lance said, looking into Keith’s eyes. Keith’s eyes were bloodshot, and the rims were swollen. Had Keith been crying?

Keith’s voice was barely above a whisper when he said, “I like you too, Lance. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“Keith, have you been crying?” Lance asked suddenly.

Keith sighed and leaned back, letting go of Lance’s hand. “You ruined the moment. We were having a bonding moment, Lance.”

“Nope. Don’t remember, didn’t happen,” Lance teased. Keith rolled his eyes. “But you didn’t answer the question.”

“And you haven’t drunken your milkshake yet,” Keith pointed out, gesturing towards the untouched milkshake. “They have good milkshakes here.”

“Hmm, pretty good,” Lance agreed as he took a sip. “The question.”

Keith crossed his arms. “I haven’t been crying.”

“Have you been sleeping?” Lance asked. Every single time he had seen Keith, Keith looked tired. Even now, his eyes were red and he had eyebags.

Keith glanced towards a waitress leaning against the counter nearby, who was watching Lance and twirling her stray strands of hair around her finger. “Careful. I think she’s planning on making a move.”

As if on cue, the waitress stepped towards them. Her nametag read ‘Katie’. She beamed at them.

“Hey! I’m Katie. Do you need anything?” She aimed the question towards Lance.

Lance smiled back at her politely. “No, thanks.”

“And your friend?” Katie ventured, shooting a significantly less enthusiastic glare in Keith’s direction. Keith’s face twisted into a scowl.

Lance smiled wider. “My boyfriend and I are good, thanks.”

The waitress was visibly surprised. “Your boy-” she composed herself. “Oh. Alright. Have a nice day.” She huffed and walked back to the counter, but it was more of a stomp.

Keith looked at Lance, surprised. “Boyfriend?”                               

Lance blushed. It had slipped out. “I just said that so she would leave us alone.”

Keith’s face fell. Lance felt butterflies in his stomach. Had Keith hoped that Lance would call him his boyfriend?

Though Lance knew they might be moving too fast, he had never felt for anyone the way he felt for Keith. Maybe Keith was feeling it too. “But we can be boyfriends. I mean, I want you to be my boyfriend. If you want.”

Keith smiled softly. “Sure. Yeah, I’d like to be your boyfriend. If you want.”

“I want,” Lance said, his face breaking into a wide smile. His heart was full, and he was giddy with happiness.

As Keith moved to pick up his coffee, which had somehow slid over to Lance’s side of the table, Lance saw the marks on his wrist.

Lance froze. This couldn’t be possible. Keith gave him a questioning look before following Lance’s gaze to his own wrist.

“Oh. Well, I don’t mind you seeing,” Keith said lightly. Lance still didn’t move. “Lance?”

Keith looked back at his own wrist to see the marks again. _UTC-05:00 July 28, 1999._ “Lance?”

Lance’s voice was shaky when he answered. “July 28?”

Keith nodded slowly, uncertain. “Yeah. I mentioned they turned eighteen recently, right? They don’t matter,” he added hastily, “I like you. Not some faceless person I’ve never met.”

“That’s my birthday,” Lance whispered.

Now it was Keith’s turn to freeze. “It is?”

Lance nodded blankly.

Keith gave a weak smile. “Oh. What a coincidence. Maybe we’re soulmates. What’s your time zone?”

Lance showed Keith his wrist. Keith just stared at him. “Oh.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Keith spoke. “Are you angry?”

Lance snapped out of his stupor. He had been so surprised, he had forgotten that how he was acting might have made Keith feel bad about himself. “What? No! Why would I be angry?”

“You don’t look very happy.”

“No! I’m thrilled! Seriously, Keith. Even just the possibility of us being soulmates, it’s amazing. I’m just really shocked.”

Keith looked at him expectantly.

“I didn’t see my soulmate when I turned eighteen,” Lance explained, “And I haven’t seen them at all yet. So, I thought that I must have a mark glitch.”

Keith practically jumped out of his seat. He looked as if he had just been told that he was actually a hybrid of a human and an alien race. “What?!” The lady sitting at a table nearby shot him a dirty look.

“What is it, Keith?” Lance asked, concerned. Was Keith one of the people who believed people who had mark glitches were unnatural?

“You haven’t seen them? At all?”

Lance nodded. What had shaken Keith so badly?

“Oh, God,” Keith leaned back in his seat. “And you have the time zone.”

Lance nodded again. “I searched online for reasons I might not be seeing them, but I couldn’t find any explanation.”

Keith leaned forward, his eyes intense and focused on Lance. “I think we’re soulmates.”

Lance deflated. “Keith, I want that to be true so badly, but I don’t think so. I haven’t seen my soulmate at all. I have a mark glitch. I have to accept that.”  

“But what about that connection we felt?” Keith was now gesturing wildly with his hands. “Maybe it’s a soulmate bond!”

Lance shook his head sadly. “I’m a mark glitch, Keith. And we haven’t seen each other in our dreams at all. Since you’ve definitely been asleep since I turned eighteen, it can’t be you. I’m sorry.”

Keith stared at him for a moment, and then took a deep breath. “Lance, I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“I have insomnia.”


	4. Chapter 4

Lance stared at Keith. “What?”

“I have insomnia,” Keith repeated, looking down at the ground. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“You can’t have been awake for two weeks, Keith,” Lance said, unable to believe it.

Keith shook his head. “I’ve only been sleeping two or three hours per night. Sometimes only one.”

“But any amount of time is enough time to see your soulmate,” Lance said, disappointed. For a moment, he had truly believed that Keith was his soulmate and it had been a moment of blinding happiness, but the moment was over, and reality hit him.

Keith shook his head and pulled out his phone. He typed something into the address bar and it brought up a website. He handed Lance his phone.

Lance looked at the screen. It was the website he had been on earlier, the article he had left half unread in his frustration.

_5th reason: Your soulmate hasn’t been sleeping enough._

_Meeting your soulmate occurs in the REM stage of sleep, and if your soulmate hasn’t been getting enough REM sleep then you won’t be able to meet them. For a dream meeting to work, both the soulmates have to be getting enough sleep during the time period they want to see their soulmates in. Generally, both soulmates have to be getting a minimum of 6 hours sleep for at least 3 days before a dream meeting can occur, but the time period can vary. This reason is usually short-term as most people can’t stay fully awake for more than three days, but it can also be long-term if one of the soulmates have insomnia, sleep apnea, or other sleeping disorders._

When he had finished reading, Lance gave the phone back to Keith.

They stared at each other.

This was a lot of information for Lance to take in. In a matter of minutes, he had gone from thinking that he had a mark glitch to realizing he might have a soulmate, and that soulmate might be Keith Kogane. He must be dreaming. This couldn’t be real. The universe couldn’t have given him such a perfect match, and a match that actually liked him. It just wasn’t possible.

“Alright,” Lance said finally, pulling his milkshake towards himself and taking a sip. “This is happening.” After a short pause, he said, “You should taste this milkshake. It’s really good.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow, but obediently took a sip of the milkshake. “This is good.”

Lance nodded in agreement. “Of course, I can do better. I used to work part time on a ranch.”

“For some reason, I can imagine you sitting on a bucket milking a cow while humming some traditional country tune.”

“I don’t know to reply to that,” Lance said.

“I bet you’d give the cows names and all.”

“Every good farmer gives their cows names. The cows deserve respect,” Lance said, offended. “Mine was named Kaltenecker. I mean, she wasn’t really mine, but she was my favorite.”

Keith laughed, and then stopped himself. “I shouldn’t be laughing, considering I lived on a farm in Texas for most of my life.”

An image of Keith wearing a cowboy hat and speaking in a Southern accent popped into Lance’s head, and he burst out laughing. “Texas?”

Keith crossed his arms, already pouting. “What’s wrong with Texas? My dad was from there.”

“It’s Texas!” Lance protested. “Also, no offense, but you don’t look like you’re from Texas.”

“I get that a lot,” Keith said. “Would it help if I put on a cowboy hat?”

That cracked Lance up again. “We should go to a farm together someday.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Sounds amazing. We’ll spend the whole day milking cows and riding horses.”

“You know there’s no way to confirm we’re soulmates until you actually sleep, right?” Lance blurted out. Though he was almost certain that Keith was his soulmate, he refused to allow himself to believe it until it was proven.

Keith sighed, and Lance was again aware of how tired he looked. “Sorry, Lance. I can’t control this.”

Something made Lance say, “That night when I fell asleep at your house, I could almost feel you.”

With a sudden jolt, he realized that the figure in his dream had looked similar to Keith. If only he could have seen the figure’s face.

Keith’s voice was soft when he replied, “I think I felt you, too.”

Though Lance was compelled to point out that this conversation would sound completely different when taken out of context, he decided not to ruin the moment. “Have you tried any sleeping meds?”

“I don’t want to,” Keith said. “They make me feel like I lost control of myself. I don’t know why, but they just make me feel really bad. But that time we went out, it was the first time in a long while that I actually fell asleep without spending hours awake. Even if I couldn’t stay asleep.”

Keith’s eyes were wide and honest, and he said the last two sentences as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Do you want to go to my house?” Lance asked. There was something about Keith that always made him speak without thinking. Whenever he was with Keith, it was as if his logical thinking process had shut off and he spoke instinctively. But Keith didn’t seem to mind.

Keith gave him a dry look. “Are you going to try to make me sleep?”

“Not unless you want to,” Lance replied. Keith nodded.

When they arrived at Lance’s apartment, Lance was lost for words. Keith was here, in Lance’s house, and in his bedroom, no less. Although when they were at the coffeeshop Lance had a thousand things he wanted to say, those things had flown out of his mind the moment he saw Keith sitting on his bed. After he shut the door, he crossed the room and sat down beside Keith. Keith looked at him. The look was a mixture of affection, warmth, and flickers of desire. Lance looked away, embarrassed. Somehow, he felt as if Keith hadn’t meant for him to see that look. Something about it was immensely personal.

Though something in the back of his mind was telling Lance that Keith didn’t want him, that Keith was only here because he didn’t want to upset Lance, he forced himself to ignore the voice.

“You’re worrying again, aren’t you?” Keith said quietly.

“How did you know?”

“I know you,” Keith said. The room was dark, but Lance’s bedside lamp emitted a soft orange glow. Lance felt vulnerable. He felt as if he was stripped of any armor he was wearing and now Keith was seeing all of him. _I know you._ Keith reached out to place his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Lance said. All thoughts had flown out his mind at the feeling of Keith’s hand on his arm, even though it was only a platonic touch. He was fighting the urge to touch Keith’s hair. As horribly styled as it was, he could imagine running his hands through it and leaning forward and-

Lance cut the thought off, a faint blush already rushing to his cheeks. He was almost certain that Keith liked him the way he liked Keith, but Lance was scared to make the first move. Though he had always been the person to make the first move, with Keith it was different. Somehow, being around Keith reduced him to a stuttering, blushing mess and it was completely new for Lance. He had never felt like this before.

“I’m sorry,” Keith said suddenly. Lance stared at him, confused.

“For what?”

“For pushing the whole soulmate thing. I shouldn’t have kept insisting,” Keith said. His voice was flat.

Lance’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait, what? You actually think that I’m upset about that?”

Keith muttered something Lance couldn’t hear. He was facing downwards so his hair fell over his eyes, and Lance had an urge to brush his hair out of his eyes.

“Keith, I’m not upset!” Lance exclaimed. He had been so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t realize how cold he had been acting. Keith must think that Lance hated him. “I’m just thinking about a lot of things.”

“Are you sure?” Keith asked quietly.

Lance decided to tell Keith the truth. “I was just scared that you didn’t actually want to be here.”

“I want to be here,” Keith said simply. “I want to be anywhere you are.”

Lance’s heart exploded. Just one sentence from Keith filled him with a feeling he didn’t know what to call, a feeling of warmth, love, and something else that was stronger than anything he had felt before. Something was pulling him to Keith, and there was no way Keith wasn’t his soulmate, because there could be no other explanation for this new sensation that was completely filling his being. He had never fallen so hard for someone, and it didn’t matter if he hurt himself while falling because Keith would be there to pick him up again.

Keith must be feeling the same way, because he was looking at Lance with blind adoration, as if Lance could give him every single star in the night sky. And Lance would, because he would do anything for Keith. He would follow Keith anywhere.

“You’re my soulmate,” Lance said, breathless.

“I don’t care if we’re soulmates or not. I just want you.”

Then they fell together, and neither of them knew who initiated the kiss but it didn’t matter because Lance was kissing Keith Kogane, and his hands were buried in Keith’s hair. Keith tasted like coffee and his hands were warm on Lance’s shoulders, moving down to squeeze his hips. His hands were under Lance’s shirt, leaving trails of warmth wherever he touched the bare skin. He lightly skimmed his hands up Lance’s sides, and Lance let out a gasp.

Keith pushed him back so Lance was now lying down and Keith was straddling him, and Keith leaned down to deepen the kiss.

“Dominating me on my own bed,” Lance managed to say as Keith trailed kisses down to his neck.

Keith paused to smirk at him. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

Lance wanted to come up with a snarky reply, but he was distracted by Keith sucking at a point just above his collarbone. Instinctively, Lance’s fingers tightened in Keith’s hair, which was just as soft as he had imagined. Keith’s body was warm against his, and when he leaned back to gaze at Lance, his pupils were dilated.

Lance let out a soft sound of protest, pulling Keith down to kiss him again, his fists knotting in Keith’s shirt.

“You’re so beautiful like this, you know,” Keith murmured against Lance’s lips. Lance clutched Keith closer to him, closing his eyes and letting the pleasure wash over him. Then, he opened his eyes again, because he wanted to see Keith like this. Keith had never been so beautiful to him, and he would have said it if his mouth allowed him to form any words except Keith’s name.

“Keith.” The name tasted sweet on his tongue, and it came out as a moan as Keith’s lips trailed down to his neck again and he gently bit down. Lance gasped and wound his fingers into Keith’s hair again, giving a soft pull.

“I thought you didn’t like my hair,” Keith said pointedly, giving him a knowing smile.

Lance huffed. “I said it wasn’t good for the ladies. I never said it wasn’t good for me.”

Keith laughed and kissed Lance again. “That’s the cutest thing.”

“Shut up,” Lance said.

Keith snorted. “Very romantic, Lance.”

“Excuse you, I’m hella romantic.”

“Oh, yeah?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll show you how romantic I can be,” Lance challenged.

Keith answered him with a kiss, bringing his hands up to cup Lance’s face in a surprisingly tender gesture. Or maybe it wasn’t that surprising, because Keith had been nothing but careful with him so far, as if Lance was a glass vase that might break at any moment. And Lance wanted more.

“I won’t break, Keith,” Lance said.

“I know,” Keith said. “But I’m not going to throw you around.”

Lance winked at him. “What if I want to be thrown around?”

“Then,” Keith said, leaning down to kiss Lance again. “You’re a lot kinkier than I thought you were.” This kiss was harder than the others, more desperate, and Lance was left gasping for air, his head spinning. He was almost drunk, intoxicated on the feeling of Keith against him and the taste of Keith’s lips. The taste of the coffee had faded, and now only the taste of Keith himself remained. Lance kissed him hungrily, and though they were already so close he wanted to be even closer.

“Is this a good moment to bring out the handcuffs?” Lance teased lightly.

“Yes,” Keith said, deadpan. Lance blinked in surprise before Keith laughed. “I’m kidding. You know, because I can actually make jokes?”

“And here I thought you were an emotionless robot,” Lance joked.

Keith scoffed. “I think I’ve more than demonstrated my emotions for you.”

“I don’t know… I think you need to demonstrate them a bit more.”

“I love you,” Keith said.

Lance froze. All this time, he had been scared to say it because he thought that Keith would have thought that they were moving too fast, but he should have known that Keith was the other half of him and they shared their emotions. Keith was looking at him, half-anxious and half-determined.

“Damn you, Keith Kogane,” Lance said. “I was supposed to say it first.”

Then, he laughed and kissed Keith again. This kiss was an explosion of energy, and Lance pushed everything he wanted to say but was too afraid to say into it, and Keith pushed back against Lance, fiery and determined. Fiery and determined, as he always was.

Keith was fire, and Lance was water. Lance was water, always going with the flow, his emotions as unpredictable as the ocean. Calm and relaxed one day, angry and powerful the next, like the waves crashing against the shore at midnight. They were opposites, but they were also the same, because there was so much about them that was exactly the same. Lance hoped that his water wouldn’t extinguish Keith’s flames.

But when Keith smiled down at him as if Lance was the only thing in his world, Lance knew that they would only make each other stronger. Everything about this was meant to be. _They_ were meant to be.

And Lance had never believed in destiny until now.


	5. Chapter 5

The sky was a pale blue, washed out and bleached. The clouds scattered around it were thin spirals, like bits of discarded cotton. However, the sun was shining brightly, and Lance had never been so happy.

He was at the beach, stretched out on a towel. The sea stretched in front of him, calm and blue, lazy waves lapping at the white sands. Keith was sitting on a chair nearby him, and Hunk and Pidge were huddled together around some robotics magazine, discussing something in low voices.

Lance looked over at Keith. “Keith?”

Keith shielded his eyes with a hand. “Yeah?”

“Are you going to swim at all?”

Keith shrugged. “I don’t like the water that much.

Lance gave an exaggerated gasp, mock offended. “How could you? Water is amazing!”

“Dolphin Lance strikes again,” Keith teased.

“Did I ever tell you about the cringey phase Lance had when he pretended to be a dolphinkin for three months?” Pidge put in, grinning wickedly.

Lance let out an irritated groan as Keith burst out laughing. “Pidge, you promised not to mention that ever again!”

“Actually, I just said I wouldn’t,” Pidge corrected. “I didn’t promise.”

“I hate you.”

“Nah,” Pidge dismissed. “Hunk, back me up here.”

Hunk looked up. “Sorry, but I did actually say the words ‘I promise’, so I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“That’s code for confirmation,” Pidge stage-whispered.

“Pidge!” Lance said, frustrated. “Don’t make me tell Keith about the time you tried to build a robot that would brush your teeth for you.”

“That wasn’t actually that embarrassing.” Pidge shrugged, unbothered. “And it even worked, until the robot started spraying toothpaste everywhere.”

“I was washing toothpaste out of my hair for days,” Hunk said, putting the magazine down.

“Anyway, can we go swim now?” Lance asked, standing up. Keith shook his head. “Keith, come on! For me?”

Keith rolled his eyes, but he stood up. “You’re so lucky I love you.”

Lance smiled adoringly. “I am.”

“Ugh! Embarrassing couple alert. Save it for when you’re alone,” Pidge complained.

Lance grinned and put his arm around Keith’s waist, kissing his forehead. “Oh, embarrassing? You mean like this?” He leaned down and pressed a kiss on Keith’s lips.

“No, guys!” Pidge whined. “I’m little. You can’t do this in front of me.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a kiss, Pidgeon. You see them all the time.”

“I don’t like romance.”

“Lies!” Lance crowed. “You watch so many romance movies! You cried watching Titanic!”

“No, that was Keith,” Pidge pointed out. “And you cried as well.”

“Rose could have just moved over!” Keith said, his eyebrows furrowed. “There was enough space for Jack as well!”

“Yeah, but I cried because Tommy died,” Lance said. “He didn’t deserve it!”

“Who the hell is Tommy?” Pidge said.

“You don’t remember Tommy?!” Lance narrowed his eyes. “Jack’s friend. The third-class guy. The one with the accent?”

“Oh, yeah. Him.” Pidge nodded in recognition. “He was a minor character!”

“He didn’t deserve to die!” Lance and Keith said at the same time.

“Go away and leave me in peace,” Pidge commanded. “Hunk and I are working on something.”

The sea was only a few meters away, and Lance ran into the water, diving in as soon as the water was deep enough that he wouldn’t hit his head on the seabed. Keith, however, remained on the shore.

“Keith!” Lance called. “Aren’t you coming?”

“The water is cold!” Keith said. Lance swam closer. “No, Lance! Don’t you dare!” Lance grinned and splashed water onto Keith, making him shriek. “Lance! I’m freezing!”

“I’ll warm you up,” Lance said, winking suggestively.

Keith groaned. “That was so cheesy.”

“Come on!” Lance said. Keith huffed, but he counted to three and then charged into the water. Keith gasped in horror and began shivering, and Lance swam over. “You’re so dramatic, Mullet.”

“I can’t believe you still call me that,” Keith said as Lance pulled Keith into his arms.

“I can’t believe you still have that mullet,” Lance retorted.

“Shut up. You love it.”

“I love you,” Lance said, kissing Keith on the nose. Keith blushed, as he always did whenever Lance did that. Then, Keith frowned, clearly remembering that he was supposed to be angry with Lance.

“I’d love you a whole lot more if you didn’t just drag me into the coldest water on Earth.”

“But look at how pretty it is!” Lance said. The sunlight was casting bright patterns across the seabed, and dainty fish darted around in large shoals. There were seashells all over the seabed, and there were stones as well, with small crabs hiding beneath them. Lance never felt as peaceful as he did when he was in the water. Well, the water was a close second to being in Keith’s arms.

He had been together with Keith for almost two weeks now, and they were the happiest two weeks of his life. Pidge often said that this was just their honeymoon phase, but Lance couldn’t imagine not feeling like this whenever he was with Keith. Besides, Pidge was always joking. Lance knew that both she and Hunk were thrilled that Lance found someone he was this happy with. He knew that they worried about him a lot, especially since he had never truly dated someone.  

“I’m still cold,” Keith said, throwing his arms around Lance and hugging him tighter. “What kind of boyfriend are you, letting me freeze?”

“You’re so cute, _cariño,_ ” Lance said, kissing Keith’s forehead. “It’s just you that has a weirdly high body temperature. Us normal humans find this water warm.”

“I don’t recall you complaining about my body temperature when we’re in bed.”

Lance immediately flushed. Keith shot him a triumphant look. “Well, that’s just because it doesn’t occur to me then.”

“Actually, you said several times that you like how my skin is so hot,” Keith said. “And you also-”

Lance clasped a hand over Keith’s mouth. “Okay, okay! Fine, we’ll get out of the water.”

They trudged out of the water, and Lance went to sit on Keith’s chair while Keith walked off down the coast. Lance stretched his arms out, yawned, and closed his eyes. He could feel the sunshine on his skin, warm and pleasant. A few minutes later, someone tapped his arm.

He opened his eyes to see Keith standing in front of him, holding out a seashell.

“I thought you might like this,” Keith stuttered, his face pink.

Lance stood up and hugged Keith tightly. “You know I’m crazy in love with you and I wake up every morning thinking of how happy I am to be with you, right?”

Keith gave a content sigh and melted into Lance’s arms. Lance sat down so Keith sat on his lap, curling up in a comfortable position. “Yeah. I mean, me too. I should be saying that.”

Lance grinned at him cheekily. “I said it first.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but he leaned in to kiss Lance’s cheek. “I love you. If I tried to tell you what an amazing person you are, would you listen?”

“Probably not,” Lance admitted. “I’m not amazing.”

“You’re an amazing person,” Keith informed him, shifting so he was now resting his head on Lance’s shoulder. Lance put his arms around him.

“I should probably warn you,” Lance said, “that if you’re going to keep sitting on my lap I am going to have a,” - he coughed awkwardly - “physical reaction.”

Keith smirked at him, his demeanor changing rapidly. “Physical reaction, huh?”

“No, don’t you dare!” Lance hissed, recognizing the mischievous glint in Keith’s eyes. “I’m wearing wet swim shorts, this won’t end well.”

“Maybe it won’t end well for you,” Keith said, grinning. “But it’s a pretty desirable outcome for me.”

“Keith, you’re a fucking tease,” Lance groaned. “Are you serious?”

“Well, I guess if you don’t want me, then I’ll just go,” Keith said casually, making to stand up.

However, Lance grabbed his arm, keeping him seated. “Course I want you.”

Keith leaned closer to whisper in Lance’s ear, his lips barely an inch away. “How much do you want me?”

Then, he winked, something Lance had never seen him do before, and got off Lance, walking over to sit on Lance’s towel.

Lance leapt to his feet. “Pidge, Hunk, I think I’m kind of feeling a bit sick. It must be the sun. Keith and I are going home, okay?”

Pidge snorted. “The sun, huh?”

Keith stifled a laugh and stood up, taking Lance’s hand as they walked back to Lance’s car. “Uh, Lance? You realize we’re still only wearing our swimsuits, right? And they’re wet. The car will be ruined.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lance glanced down at himself. “Well, it doesn’t matter.” Then, he winked at Keith. “We can just take them off.”

Keith groaned. “And here I was thinking I finally gained the upper hand.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “I thought that you were innocent. You literally start blushing whenever I kiss you. You blushed when giving me a seashell, but you don’t blush while dirty talking?”

“I wasn’t dirty talking,” Keith denied.

“Then if that wasn’t you dirty talking, I wonder what it’s like when you actually dirty talk.”

Keith grinned. “Wanna find out?”

“God, I love you.”

-

Moonlight streamed through the thin gap between the closed curtains, casting pale light over Keith’s sleeping form. _He’s so cute when he’s sleeping_ , Lance thought. Keith looked serene, his closed eyelids almost lavender, matching the permanent shadows under his eyes.

Though Lance and Keith had moved in together a week ago and had been sleeping in the same bed ever since, Keith still had trouble sleeping. Getting him to fall asleep was the easy part; Lance singing him a Spanish lullaby his own mother had sung him when he was little and stroking his hair was enough for Keith to fall asleep, but he invariably woke up soon after, his body unable to stay asleep. Though Lance had told Keith that he should wake Lance up if he couldn’t fall asleep again, Keith still refused to wake Lance, and Lance more than often woke up in an empty bed. Keith usually went out to sit on the balcony when he couldn’t sleep.

This night, however, they had gone out to a new nightclub along with their usual squad, and Keith had tired himself out completely. _Probably my fault,_ Lance thought ruefully. He had made Keith dance with him for hours.

So, now, Keith had been asleep for two hours. Lance was forcing himself to stay awake so he could make sure Keith wouldn’t wake up until morning. He had a new book with him, and he had spent the first one and a half hours reading it. Now, however, he was simply watching Keith sleep, as creepy as it sounded.

Keith stirred and made a small noise of discontent. Immediately, Lance soothed him, stroking his hair and murmuring quiet words of comfort. After a few minutes, Keith fell asleep again, the worried lines in his face smoothed out once more.

Though Lance had been planning to stay awake to make sure Keith was sleeping, fatigue was overcoming him and his own eyelids were struggling to stay open. He moved closer to Keith so Keith was nestled against Lance, and Lance carefully put his arm around Keith’s waist, knowing that it made Keith feel safe whenever he did it.

Eventually, Lance couldn’t stay awake anymore.

_He was somewhere green, perhaps the countryside, because there were grassy hills covered in colorful flowers everywhere. Sunshine flooded the landscape, and the sky was bluer than he had ever seen it._

_The grass looked soft and inviting, and he sat down, stretching out his legs. The grass felt soft._

_Someone was walking towards him. Someone familiar, with long black hair, wearing a red jacket. He couldn’t see their face. They walked closer until they were right next to him, and then they lay down so their head was in Lance’s lap. Though Lance still couldn’t see their face, he felt as if he could trust this person with his life. With his everything._

_And as soon as the thought occurred to him, their face came into focus._

_“Keith,” Lance said in wonder._

_“The sun’s in my eyes,” Keith said. Lance shifted slightly so his head blocked out the sun. “That’s better. Thanks.”_

_Though there were a million things Lance wanted to say, he didn’t say any of them. Instead, he started braiding Keith’s hair. Keith gave a small sigh of content and closed his eyes._

_After what seemed like an eternity passed, Lance spoke. “It’s you.”_

_Keith gazed up at Lance. “It’s always been you.”_

When Lance awoke, Keith wasn’t in the bed. Lance got out of bed and slipped on his blue lion slippers. Pulling on a morning robe, he walked out to the balcony. Sure enough, Keith was there, staring at the view ahead of them.

Lance was now standing next to Keith. It was a beautiful view, but the only thing Lance wanted to look at was Keith.

Keith. His beautiful, funny, clever, hot-headed, determined Keith. His soulmate.

Every single time Lance saw Keith he didn’t think Keith could get any more beautiful, but every single time he was wrong. Keith became more beautiful each time Lance looked at him.

And now Keith was facing him, looking back at him with shining eyes.

Lance couldn’t speak.

“Were you seriously braiding my hair?” Keith said finally, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Lance’s face broke into a huge smile and he threw his arms around Keith, hugging him tightly. “It’s you.”

Keith hugged him back, burying his face in Lance’s neck. “It’s always been you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it! ^.^


End file.
